"Supreme art is a traditional statement of certain heroic and religious truth, passed on from age to age, modified by individual genius, but never abandoned." William Butler Yeats

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

A Few Quick Notes

I saw Act Of Valor and Gone yesterday and loved them both; I expected Act of Valor to be powerful, but I wasn't expecting as much depth in the story as what was delivered, so if you see ONLY ONE MOVIE this month, make it Act Of Valor (posting on that today). I was shocked at the depth and width of Gone's message, so much so, that before the film was even over, I realized I was going to have to watch it again because it was creating a subtext that I missed. Honestly, you can probably wait for Gone to come out on DVD; the psychoanalysis is really done well, but that doesn't necessarily translate to entertainment value... for me, the psychoanalysis is the entertainment value, so you have been given fair warning. I have to see it again so I hope to post on Gone around Thursday or Friday.

A girl thrown into a dirty pit,... remind you of Silence of the Lambs? Just as the boys in Chronicle found a secret in the bottom of an earthen hole, so does Amanda Seyfried's Jill Conway in Gone.

I just found this new trailer today; you know what I was talking about yesterday in my post on Chronicle, about the person videotaping having power in a situation that the person being taped doesn't have?... yea, watch this:

Just a few notes on this, one of the main girls in the story is named Lucie (played by Sarah Gadon) and those who read my posts from October on vampires should recall our discussion on Lucy and Renfield from Children Of the Night: Dracula 1931. Secondly, like Jill Conway in Amanda Seyfried's Gone, Rebecca (Sarah Bolger) has lost both parents (given that her mother is a "wreck" she's at least absent) and that always translates as both a loss of the feelings of patriotism and one's faith.

Thirdly, the dominant role of the English teacher in the trailer, Mr. Davies (Scott Speedman) means that we are "being educated" by the film itself on what vampires are, but we aren't being educated by True Blood, Being Human, Twilight, The Vampire Diaries, Underworld or any other modern source; rather, The Moth Diaries goes back to the beginning, the origin from which these contemporary versions grew, the Gothic novel and whenever a movie sets out to educate its viewers about something, it's really setting out to re-educate its viewers. In other words, I am hoping that The Moth Diaries will make an attempt to debunk the popularity of vampires and show them for what they really are (and, if you can't wait until April 20 for its release, you can jump to For the Dead Travel Fast: Dracula which begins the series I did in October regarding the enemies of humanity).

This newest trailer for Pixar's Brave, being released in June, invokes the cult of the princess warrior, one of the most mis-understood and twisted literary devices ever. It's quite possible that Brave will continue this mis-representation, however, it's also possible that, given the subtle yet definite undercurrents trying to change how femininity is understood, Brave will contribute to to the traditional understanding rather than the Feminist political agenda (there is also both Snow Whites from Mirror, Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman coming out which will also utilize this device).

What's the traditional view?
Woman, as the pinnacle of God's creation, is a spiritual warrior because she was created from spirit so she is uniquely capable of holding the Spirit, Grace and that's why God created her, to be man's help mate because man, being made from the earth, would not be able to hold Grace as well, but his rib is what binds the two together. A woman portrayed as a warrior is supposed to mean a woman battling the spiritual evils besitting her so she will make a virtuous wife and be a glowing example to other woman; we don't really see that, do we? Instead, we see women demanding to be men's equals, and this reveals that women know not from whence they come, hence, not where they are destined to go. It could be very much the same from Brave, but I do have hopes.
And now for a bit of news about the economy:

Opening at the end of August, 7500, like the plane crash in The Grey, probably acts as a metaphor for the economy: the idea of the "ups" and the "downs" and the "crashes" and the "climbs" makes an airplane an apt vehicle for discussing capitalism, especially since that plane is destined for Tokyo, the capitol of a country with as much debt as we have.

Disney has finally given the green light to The Lone Ranger project, with big name Johnny Depp and Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski, but it's Armie Hammer (J. Edgar and Mirror, Mirror) who will play the masked cowboy and Depp will portray Tonto; Disney hopes to release the film in 2013. I may have spoken too soon. While I believed I had really reliable information for Paradise Lost being canceled due to the high costs of production, it's possible that Bradley Cooper may still pull it off (he's wanting to play Lucifer). I will keep you posted, as this sounds like it would be a theological disaster.
Lastly, The Weinstein company has made a deal with Netflix that when films such as The Artist and Coriolanus debut on TV, it won't be on cable first, it will go straight to Netflix streaming.

About Me

This blog is dedicated to the glory of Jesus Christ.
Email thoughts and comments to thefineartdiner@gmail.com.
Please note: there is never just one correct interpretation, and I know that, I just rarely mention it nowadays; please do not think that, just because I have chosen to post one interpretation over another, doesn't mean that I think my interpretation is exclusively correct or other positions not possible. I would also like to point out that, we are living in a very defined, volatile culture with dynamic politics at play on the international stage and, whether you like to admit it or not, those elements go into the creation of art, which is why I include the political elements in my interpretations.
Thank you, have a nice day.